New Adventures

Karen Blog 3.2.10

Oh, I miss my sweet children at home. I was able to talk with them last night and hear their happy voices. I know they are safe and in good care. For that I am so grateful. But it is hard to be away from them yet another time.

I am ready to be united as a family now. I can see Christian fitting in so well. He is such a great little boy. He is just like them- full of life and enthusiasm! He and Bella together are going to have such fun …and wear me out. I can’t wait to see all 6 of the children together.

Christian slept great last night. The only reason that we were up with him was because he woke us up as his “diaper exploded”. I was drifting off to sleep, and well… I heard a loud…rumbling..from the crib. All the new foods and anxiety of leaving his friends at the orphanage took a toll on his little system. J

Today, Christian and I are hanging in the hotel room, playing with toys and walking up and down the hall. I brushed his teeth again this morning- he was not real excited as this is a foreign concept. We have taught him to drink out of a sippy and also introduced him to water (he is used to juice and sweetened tea). He continues to eat everything and sat in the bed enjoying a banana and cheerios this morning. Oh no, he just found stray cheerios under the bed- gotta go!

Later: After Jim was successful in settling some issues with Christian’s visa (huge relief), we headed to Moscow. I couldn’t help feeling a mixture of emotions for my son as we left his region. As we got into the van to travel to Moscow, a wave of sorrow swept over me as I looked at my sweet, bewildered looking son peeking out from under all his snow gear. This place…this gray, smoky place. This is where he is from. This is where his life began and where we first met him. I felt waves of sadness for him as I am not sure he will ever be back. Despite my feelings of apprehension here and despite the fact that I see such sadness and emptiness here… I will forever have a fondness and a love for this place because it is part of my son, whom I love. There is not hope here for him…no future…no life …but it was the beginning of his life so it is dear to me.

So I held my little guy on my lap and gave him an extra big squeeze. Then I looked out the dirt covered, dingy windows as we drove, trying to capture as much as I could in my mind so that one day, I could share my memories with him.

Upon arriving in Moscow, we went exploring! Yippee! Thanks to the last trip with Kevin, Jim is much more comfortable navigating around the city. We ended up at Hard Rock Café. Can you imagine the look on Christian’s face? Not only was he out soaking up the sights and sounds of a big city , but then he saw the videos and heard the music at Hard Rock. J

Well, Snyder kids, your brother is resilient. He sat in a high chair and colored (OK, so he really tried to eat crayons) and shared fajitas with mom and dad. Kids- he is going to LOVE you guys! I think that is one thing he misses from the orphanage- other kids! When we saw his bedroom at the orphanage, we were a bit surprised by the set up. There were a few cribs in there, but then the rest were these little wooden beds. I thought of the 7 dwarfs when I saw the beds. J Anyway, he misses his buddies at the orphanage (that was his family). So he is going to be thrilled to get home and find a houseful of kids! He is going to LOVE you!!!!!!!!

Well, we I am heading back to the room. The doctor will be at our room at 7:45 am to examine Christian. Love to all and a big thank you for your love, prayers and support with EVERYTHING!

Children: Mommy and daddy love you and miss you like crazy! This is the LAST trip and then we will just be a family. I can’t wait! I pray for you all the time and can’t wait to give you a big hug!!!!!!